Quran & the Christians

[Zico]

While reading the Quran, surat Al-Hadid Ch.57. I have noticed something for you Christians.

"And We sent Noah and Abraham, and established in their line Prophethood and Revelation: and some of them were on right guidance, but many of them became rebellious transgressors. (26) Then in their wake, We followed them up with (others of) Our messengers: We sent after them Jesus the son of Mary, and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy. But the Monasticism which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them: (We commanded) only the seeking for the Good pleasure of Allah; but that they did not foster as they should have done. Yet We bestowed, on those among them who believed, their (due) reward, but many of them are rebellious transgressors. (27)"

Here Allah :arabic2: talking to you and showing you that he willed that you're religion is about "Compassion" yet you "did not foster as they should have done".

Now Allah :arabic4: giving you advice.

"O ye that believe! Fear Allah and believe in His messenger, and He will bestow on you a double portion of His Mercy: He will provide for you a Light by which ye shall walk (straight in your path), and He will forgive you (your past): For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful: (28) That the People of the Book may know that they have no power whatever over the Grace of Allah, that (His) Grace is (entirely) in, His Hand, to bestow it on whomsoever He wills. For Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding. (29)"

The bold part is, on what I see, the most important point I would like to make. For Christians God's mercy is the pinnacle of your belief, yet you can see here that God will "bestow on you a double portion of His Mercy" the word double shows you that God will double his mercy on you if you follow the true path, which obviously to us is Islam. God doesn't stop there he continues on saying "He will provide for you a Light by which ye shall walk (straight in your path), and He will forgive you (your past): For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful(28) That the People of the Book may know that they have no power whatever over the Grace of Allah, that (His) Grace is (entirely) in, His Hand, to bestow it on whomsoever He wills. For Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding. (29)"

So the question is what do think about that?

[Follower]

Interesting on monasticism- just had a discussion about this with a fellow Christian today- How can a Priest trully understand and minister to a family, about marriage, parenting, etc. when he has not had a "normal" life exprience.

Our Pastor is great, has a wife and 2 kids, experiencing all the kinds of things all of us experience everyday. Pastor is just as human as all of us makng in his words- "all the same dopey mistakes that we make".

Pastor reminds us that as Christians we have already beem promised GOD's mercy, we simply must have faith in the fact that Jesus died for our sins.

[Grace Seeker]

Interesting on monasticism- just had a discussion about this with a fellow Christian today- How can a Priest trully understand and minister to a family, about marriage, parenting, etc. when he has not had a "normal" life exprience.

With respect to your own particular understanding of "normal", what one person experiences as "normal" others will experience as something other than their own normal. No pastor is going to have a life experience that ministers to all: single, married, divorced, widowed, young, middle-aged, old, rich, poor, student, working, unemployed, healthy, infirmed, ethnic minority, majority, male, female -- the idea that a pastor has to be married to truly understand and minister to a family about marriage, parenting, etc. implies that he needs to truly understand. I suggest to you that he doesn't. He needs to understand how to communicate the word of God to people in those situations and trust that God truly understands, for no human being could possibly truly understand the life experiences that another has even were that person his/her twin.

I think you jump to a hasty conclusion if you a projecting that a monastic could not relate to a another human being as well as a non-monastic individual based solely on their respective life experiences. I've never given birth (nor will I ever), but only rarely do the pregnant women of my congregation call asking to visit with my wife rather than me. They're looking for spiritual guidance which I can still provide though I've never been pregnant, those that are looking for human guidance have plenty of other sources to turn to.

[Grace Seeker]

So the question is what do think about that?

My guess is that if we thought that the passages you quoted were really valid in speaking to/about Christians, that most of us would have already become become Muslim some time ago.

So, it's more likely that the key part which needed to be highlighted is not so much those portions that you wanted us to see, but that which immediately preceeded it: "many of them became rebellious transgressors." If these words are true, then we are doomed by our acts of rebellion. If they are not true, then there isn't any point in listening to the rest of what it says.